S&P 500 Little Changed as Homebuilder, Tech Shares Gain

By Rita Nazareth -
Apr 26, 2012

U.S. stocks were little changed as
homebuilders and technology companies rallied on better-than-
estimated earnings, helping the market recover from an early
drop triggered by higher-than-forecast jobless claims.

PulteGroup Inc. rallied 6.2 percent after the homebuilder’s
loss was less than forecast, while Citrix Systems Inc. and
Xilinx Inc. jumped more than 6 percent to lead technology shares
higher after reporting results. Exxon Mobil Corp. and United
Parcel Service Inc. retreated at least 1.5 percent after
earnings missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down less than 0.1
percent at 1,390.27 at 9:53 a.m. in New York after slipping as
much as 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.31
points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,114.03.

“There’s just uncertainty in terms of which way we’re
going,” said Michelle Gibley, director of international
research at San Francisco-based Charles Schwab Corp. Her firm
has $1.83 trillion in client assets. “We did get several months
of better-than-expected surprises in economic data. Now, reality
is setting in. Things are better than they were, but not maybe
as bullish as people were expecting. The earnings season has
been good, but the bar was set low.”

Stocks opened the session lower after the Labor Department
reported that U.S. jobless claims were 388,000 last week, 13,000
more than the median economist estimate.

Equities rallied yesterday as Apple Inc.’s earnings almost
doubled and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s
prepared to do more to stimulate growth if needed. Profits have
topped forecasts at about 76 percent of S&P 500 companies
reporting since April 10.